Tea Ratings: Is price a factor?

I know so many factors go into what makes a good tea and rating it as such… but does anyone ever use price as a factor? Hypothetical situation: Let’s say you found tea X that was phenomenal in every way and thus you gave it a 100. Now let’s say you found the same type of tea, Tea Y, (Type, grade, organic or not, etc) and prepared it in exactly the same way so all factors were identical. If the 2 cups tasted exactly the same, would you rate the more expensive one (X) lower than the less expensive one (Y)?

I agree too. I know that oolongs tend to be a lot more expensive and I find that I am far more critical of these teas than I am other teas. I also find that I am rather persnikity about the teas from Silk Road Teas because they can get pricy too

Sounds like the tea isn’t as much as fault as your attitude towards it. If you want to be anal or OCD about your steeping (don’t worry, I’m the most OCD about steeping parameters than 90% of the people you will ever meet lol), I suggest educating yourself as much as possible and making small cups during your “tinkering” process rather than blaming the tea.

Good point. The times that money has really affected my rating/thoughts on a tea I’ve been careful to mention it in the review. I think that the tea to cost ratio (or quality to cost ratio) is worthy of discussion in reviews anyway, though.

It wouldn’t affect my numerical rating, but if I were reviewing a tea that was both outstanding and very affordable, I would say in the tasting note that it was an excellent value. And, let’s face it, I’d be likely to drink it more often than a more expensive tea, so I might post a greater number of positive tasting notes of it!

I consider value as part of the whole deal. If I think it is overpriced, yes, that would affect my rating. If I think it is a very fine tea and it is affordable ALSO, that skyrockets the rating for me. I’m not sure if I had thought it through consciously, but it is just an integral part of my overall opinion on that tea.

I would expect the highest priced teas to be better, but honestly, that hasn’t been my experience. Maybe my tastes haven’t evolved there yet. They have changed a great deal in the few years that I have been drinking tea more, I can only think I am capable of further change. But happily, I’m not there yet and I am thrilled to find what I consider excellent teas at reasonable prices.

I will state that I am more conscious of the price of teas since I am new to this “hobby” or “passion” or whatever I am to call it, I tend to steer clear of high priced teas since I want to ensure I have perfected my understanding of steeping teas before I dive into an expensive tea.

That being said I have one tin of “Happy Kumbacha” (an oolong) in my cupboard and it took half a tin for me to learn how to steep an oolong to get the most bang for my buck, a rather expensive learning experience that left me a little miffed with oolongs, so cost tempered my opinion there for sure.